Poem

Our professor, is candidly a friend, philosopher and guide,

Who steered us in the right direction to ride,

Epitome of kindness, affection, thoughtfulness and intelligence

Sweet temperament and heartening words showcase her elegance

Acknowledging opinions without inhibition is spell bounding,

A God sent from heavenly abode worth crowning

Digital platform created a strange oneness and solidarity

Provided occasions to realize rich culture and variety

Emancipated us from shackles of intimidation and coyness

Presentations were methodical and structured with uniqueness

Precious mentor, you are an exhilarating and astounding personality

Imparting knowledge and maintaining varied elements of diversity.

Link to poem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xuaLT37Dvg&t=631s

Poem starts at minute 10:27 of the video

Judith Tamby Swarnaraji Swarnaraji

December 18, 2021

EDUC 5P24 Socially and Culturally Situate Learning

Faculty of Education

Brock University 

. . . You used a variety of instructional strategies throughout your lesson. You had them work in pairs, triads, and consolidated your lesson with a learning cycle, which encouraged deep reflection. To enhance the content of each part of your lesson, you used personal stories and humour to bring it to life. Through your stories and animated presentations, your passionate for teaching and learning was palpable. The activities you planned were practical and authentic in nature (i.e. writing a draft “email”), which allowed for the knowledge to become embodied. Overall, your lesson was exemplary.

In sum, your passion for teaching and learning both engaged your learners bringing them into the conversation, as well as enhanced the content and provided a platform from which your students could learn. I was impressed with the variety of learning moments you offered to your students and the kindness and compassion from which you operated. It was a privilege to watch you teach.

Dr. Hilary Brown, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Department of Educational Studies

Brock University

. . . What impressed me the most in Dr. Shalabi’s class was how she arranged the class seating such that we sat together in a circle to discuss a certain topic every time, which helped us think independently and share our opinions. Some students sometimes were shy to share opinions in class, but she encouraged them to participate every time, which helped us increase our self-confidence. We also had many group projects in Dr. Shalabi’s class, which helped us improve our teamwork and co-operation abilities. Different from other professors, she gave us feedback and advice face to-face every time we finished a group presentation, which helped us to develop better presentation skills.. . . 

Xi Liang

MEd Student, Brock University 

July 29^th, 2019

. . . The most unique feature that I noticed about Professor Shalabi in the interaction with me and other students was her great passion and patience in clarifying confusing points. For example, after we had learned the basic concepts and principles of quantitative and mixed methods research, she recommended us to experience service-learning research and/or work in community-based organizations in order to put the concepts instructed in class into real-life practice.

Professor Neivin Shalabi is an outstanding representative of the integration of Eastern and Western cultures and traditions in teaching methods and strategies. She pays attention to the individual student’s characteristic and emphasizes the spirit of teamwork and collaborative activities as well. She encouraged us to show our individuality in class debates and at the same time she made us aware of others’ strengths and uniqueness through engaging us in peer feedback and evaluation.. . . 

Sincerely,

Linda Wang

Master Student

Educational Studies Department

Brock University

August 21, 2019

Professor Neivin is one of the greatest people I’ve ever met. I’m so glad that I was once one of her students. She taught me a lot of things and she saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself. I’m so happy and excited for her.

Dr. Neivin Shalabi,

You are an inspiration, not for your achievements but rather for being someone who went after their goals and never gave up. I love and appreciate people who are the guideposts for what each of us should be in this life, and hope you continue to shine as a great example of all the human race has to offer up.

Congratulations

http://nivianaacademy.ca/programs

Amira Muhammed

Communications Engineer

Class of 2018

Delta University for Science and Technology

[email protected]

July 31, 2020

. . . I enjoyed visiting your class and having the opportunity to comment on what observed. It is always energizing to engage with instructors passionate about student learning and their content. I wish you continued success with your courses. Dr. Shalabi, I found you have that sought-after balance in teaching between graciousness and care while setting limits and expectations to support students' self-directed learning. . . .

Lianne Fisher

Educational Manager
Centre for Pedagogical Innovation
Brock University

Besides the general characteristics of professionalness and kindness of a professor, Dr. Shalabi also has unique features which were very uncommon and precious. The first one is the willingness to creating close relationships with students. I could say that she put in more energy and effort in connecting with students even more than a well-qualified professor would do. Every student in the class could feel the thoughtfulness and consideration from her. The second one is her extraordinary leadership. She structured the Course to be conducted both on and off campus. In either form or different environments, all the class sessions remained well-organized and close-contacted. We all unconsciously behaved ourselves in her company. I think the mental aura of one person can influence attendants. The third one is her strong will to achieve superb classes. I think this happened because of her enthusiasm about education and high standard to herself.

I learned many things from Dr. Shalabi’s classes. She was a role model to me in many aspects. I admired her competence, confidence, and energy. I knew I had to do better and become a better person after I had interacted with her.

Lily Yang

 M.Ed. Student

Affiliation: Faculty of Education

Brock University

July 21, 2020

As I have experienced in 6F02 class, Professor Dr. Neivin is an outstanding conductor of the classroom. She makes students involved in the class in a way that keeps them interested in what they are learning. She is an inspiration for the students to come up with their own ideas as well as to share those ideas with the entire class. She is one of those consistent teachers who believe in the potentials of every student and know how to empower students to reach their potentials with great value and honor. If I can quote one of her inspirational instructions while conducting a topic on Acculturation, she said “….do not forget your own culture. You should keep and practice your culture while respecting others’ cultures.”

Dr. Shalabi believes in democracy. Her teaching strategy is a perfect reflection of such beliefs. For example, she would hear the opinion of each of the students in class before reaching a decision about a certain class activity. Her teaching methods define her as a unique instructor. For example, she incorporated debates as a method of learning. Such a method certainly helped us learn about the different parts of Canada so well that we have become individuals who really know a lot about the Canadian culture: its strengths and weaknesses, its provinces and territories, as well as its administration system.

Professor Shalabi’s lesson plans were well designed modeling utmost innovativeness. She boosted our self-confidence and professionalism by providing frequent opportunities for us to give presentations in class. Her frequent emphasis on the aspect of Transition assisted us to come out of the traumatization of our transition to a foreign culture and community. Furthermore, she had the prescience to teach her students about Canada and its culture by integrating outdoor classes to different interesting places to help us learn about the history of Canada and experience amusements of the Canadian people. Dr. Shalabi’s innovation and effort did not stop there. Rather, her Community Service-Learning Activity involved us directly in our neighborhoods and made us benevolent as well as attached to the new community where we had come to live.

Moreover, during the pandemic of COVID-19, Dr. Shalabi implemented technology in the most feasible way to ensure each student’s participation in all the virtual classes. She even ensured successful participation of the Power Point Presentations virtually where everyone had to share their valuable comments. Thus, we never felt exiled or became overwhelmed with only the submission of the written assignments. Rather, we felt more engaged and better monitored by our dedicated and sincere professor.

She was a competent co-ordinator who knew her students’ skills and abilities. That is why and how she could distribute the responsibilities and ensure the triumph of the team. If MPCE is meant to make us ready for the regular Masters of Education program, then Dr. Shalabi prepared us to be the Master’s students in a program where we would be able to share our opinions in groups with value, present ourselves using technology, and contribute successfully to our research papers.

I do advocate for my professor Dr. Neivin M. Shalabi every success as her instruction and contributions are well-deserved to be awarded. She is the captain of our team, our inspiration. An example as such can be a role model if her endeavors toward the innovation of teaching are well-recognized and known to the rest of all the inspiring teachers.

With all my heartiest tribute to my professor Dr. Neivin M Shalabi.

Sincerely,

Nure Jannat

MEd Student

Faculty of Education

Brock University

[email protected]

August 9, 2020